Glacier's Hive
Glacier's Hive CN Small Town (north) Corruption +6; Crime +5; Economy -8; Law -6; Lore +2 (high wealth)/-2 (low wealth); Society -14 (high wealth)/-10 (low wealth Qualities militarized, wealth disparity Danger 40; Disadvantages anarchy, hunted Government anarchy Population 1,000 people (450 humans, 150 dwarves, 400 other) Notable NPCs The Bloodthirsty Hive Empress CE Female Hive Queen Barbarian 4 Stout Hive Warriors NE male unique Hive Warriors Barbarian 2/Fighter 2 Ashirye, Leader of the Survivors LG female dwarf paladin 3/ranger 2 The Broken Lieutenant, Zicrun Xenscar CN male insane (-4 Wisdom, Charisma, and saves vs fear effects) human fighter 3 Marketplace Base Value 800 gp; Purchase Limit 4,000 gp; Spellcasting 4th Minor Items 3d4; Medium Items 1d6; Major Items N/A Within the Sea of Ice are various small islands that, for as long as anyone can remember, have had difficulty settling on. However, around three decades ago, a man and his various men of human and dwarven warriors-with the hardy and brave dwarven paladin Ashirye being the second in command-settled onto one island as a sanctuary for devastated villages raided and destroyed by frost giant tribes. Everything went well until a few dwarf miners ventured into an unknown tunnel of the island's small mountain, and returned with unusual illnesses that could not be cured. Within a few nights, the dwarves screamed in unholy pain as small, horrific larvae clawed out of their abdomens-and before anyone could stop them, the small beasts fled. The leader immediately called for a lock-down, and his men were tasked with finding and killing the small fiends. Ashirye, however, stated that these were not fiends of any sort-despite their behavior, anything she used to see what they were came up in vain. Regardless, she ventured forth with nearly a thousand different soldiers of both dwarven and human kind-and within the dead of the night, they're searches came up in vain as more innocent townspeople disappeared. A soldier ended up finding the location of where the missing people went-or rather, their bloated corpses with huge, gaping holes in their abdomens. Before he could flee to warn the others, a huge beast-nearly the size of an adult dragon-dragged him into her nest to be flesh for her larvae. This mighty hive queen, only called The Bloodthirsty Hive Empress, sent a signal to her various hive warriors-including the Stout Hive Warriors, short limbed, slow but sturdy variations of the typical hive warrior (no thanks to their hosts being dwarves)-to attack. Ashirye witnessed the slaughter, and to this day as she keeps the remaining survivors in an underground, blocked off safe area, she still has nightmares of the various men, women, and children either ripped to shreds, eaten alive, or worse-dragged to be a new host for the queen's eggs. Her leader was one of those unfortunate men-and now serving as her second in command is Zicrun Xenscar, the son of the ill fated leader who found the island. He himself nearly became a host if it weren't for Ashirye, but the various sights of men, women, and children being either food or nests for the beasts has all but driven him to the brink of insanity-the poor man is usually found in a corner or a secluded room, giving soft mutterings about how the beasts will find them, and how it would be better to end all of their lives now just to prevent the queen from getting more supplies. The town itself is in a state of ruin-various hive warriors and larvae bicker and scatter across the streets, or incubate the eggs. The queen has now expanded the entire island as her own nesting grounds-every single area has some clutches of eggs sitting around somewhere. All other forms of native life have either fled or perished from the hive's insatiable hunger. Boats are nowhere to be found-any who tried to use them to escape were slaughtered mercilessly by the hive, with a few being implanted with eggs. Thankfully (or unfortunately, depending on who you talk to), these boats have only arrived on uninhabited islands-and the hive are nowhere near smart enough to navigate a boat. However, should an unwary ship land on the island for any reason, there is a possibility they may stowaway on the boat and spread throughout the north-and beyond. Category:Location Category:Settlement Category:Small town Category:North Category:Made by KoolKobold